The Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Trump's travel ban "does not make us any safer," the Senate's top Democrat Chuck Schumer told reporters today.
The big picture: Trump's seven country travel ban was upheld by the Supreme Court on Tuesday with a 5-4 vote with some judges split between defending the policy and others saying it was essentially a ban on Muslims from the included countries.
The Food and Drug Administration is "increasingly green-lighting expensive drugs despite dangerous or little-known side effects and inconclusive evidence that they curb or cure disease," due in part to direct and indirect influence from the pharmaceutical industry, ProPublica reports.
The bottom line: The Trump administration says quick drug approvals benefit patients in need. But drug companies are collecting the financial rewards with high-priced medicines and few, if any, incentives to make sure their drugs are effective after they hit the market.
Two more states have released proposed Affordable Care Act premiums over the past few days. The results are a mixed bag.
The details: In Kentucky, both of the insurers in the state's individual market are seeking premium hikes. In Florida, nine insurers want to sell policies in the state's individual market, including seven who want to sell on its ACA exchange.
A lawsuit between startup CareZone and pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts could provide an opening for Amazon to enter the pharmaceutical supply chain.
The bottom line: The dispute is over what constitutes a mail-order pharmacy, a $109 billion business. And CareZone believes it could set the path for Amazon if it's successful against Express Scripts.
Liu Yuejin, the deputy chief of China's National Narcotics Control Commission, said on Monday that the United States should look at domestic factors for its opioid crisis instead of blaming China, per CNN.
The big picture: Both Congress and President Trump have blamed Chinese suppliers for fueling the ongoing opioid crisis in the U.S., claiming that users are able to easily buy drugs like fentanyl online and receive them via mail, per The New York Times.
Key congressional Republicans are turning their attention to the debate over health care costs, but some of their colleagues aren’t ready to tackle that issue outside the context of their ongoing campaign against the Affordable Care Act. That could make it harder to get anything done.
Why it matters: Health care costs are one of the top issues voters say they care about, but any plan to address them would likely need to be bipartisan.
